Concrete floor finisher



June 14, 1960 2,940,299

CONCRETE FLOOR FINISHER Filed March 25, 1958 DANIEL J. SULLIVAN o INVENTOR. O BY 0. F I G. 6 Patent flgerzb 940,299 CONCRETE FLOOR FINISHER Daniel J. Sullivan, 472 Prospect Hill Road, Windsor, Conn.

Filed Mar. 25, 1958, Ser. No. 723,746

1 Claim. (Cl. 72-136) My invention relates to concrete floor finishers.

The tool commonly employed in the art for the finishing of the concrete floors is the straight edge and in order to obtain a level floor surface the straight edge must be guided by rails which are perfectly horizontal. These rails are customarily laid on the ground priorto the pouring of the concrete and after careful leveling they are secured in position by stakes; then the concrete is poured surrounding the rails and the floor surface is finished by sliding the straight edge on the rails. Following this, the rails are removed from the concrete fioor, leaving long gaps in the floor, which afterward must be filled with concrete and the surface finished in level with the floor. This customary method has two obvious disadvantages: The positioning of the rails and the finishing of the gaps caused by the removal of the rails require considerable time and costly labor; secondly, even with the greatest care the finished gaps often leave visible marks on the surface of the floor.

One of the important objects of my invention is to provide a concrete floor finisher which permits the positioning of the rails quickly, conveniently, and very accurately without the need of any leveling operation.

Another important object of my invention is to provide a concrete floor finisher in which the rails are positioned above the concrete floor so that after the finishing of the concrete floor the removal of the rails can be accomplished without disturbing the finished floor surface.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the present application, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a frontal View of my device mounted on the floor joists,

Figure 2 is a side view of the same,

Figure 3 is an enlarged frontal view of the rail supporting hanger,

Figure 4 is an enlarged side view of the same,

Figure 5 is an enlarged frontal view of the roller and the roller bracket,

Figure 6 is an enlarged side view of the same.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the straight edge used for leveling and finishing the surface of the concrete floor 13. For greater convenience of handling the straight edge 1 may be provided with a handle 12. This straight edge is secured to a pair of straps 2 and the free end of each strap 2 is attached to a roller bracket 3. Each roller bracket 3, shown in larger scale in Figs. 5 and 6, has at its upper end a double flanged roller 4, rotatably mounted on the pin 5 secured to said bracket 3. The roller 4 is adapted to run on the rail 6.

It is essential in my invention that the mechanical coupling between the bracket 3 and the strap 2 is adjustable so as to be able to obtain any required distance nited States Patent 0 2,940,299 V Patented June 14, 196 0 Ice between the rail 6 and the straight edge 1. In the pretances from the ends and detachable bolts, joining the strap 2 and the bracket 3 through the properly selected holes to give the desired distance between the roller 4 and the straight edge 1. In alternative forms of my invention this adjustable distance between the roller 4 and the straight edge 1 may be obtained by other mechanical coupling between the strap 2 and the bracket 3, such as the various sliding and threaded connections well known in the art. In' the preferred form the ,two straps 2 supporting the straight edge 1 are symmetrically arranged and the junctions between the straps 2 and the straight edge 1 are pivotal permitting the tilting of the straight edge around its long axis.

The 'rails 6 supporting the rollers 4 are, in this preferred form, of rectangular cross section and each rail is supported on hangers 7, which are fastened to thefloor joists 10 by nails passing through the holes 9 of the hangers. These hangers 7, shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4, have hook-shaped lower ends 8, so formed as to engage and hold the rail 6 securely and at the same time to permit the passage of the roller 4. In alternative forms the hook-shaped end '8 may be provided with set screws for a more secure holding of the rail 6.

As a further modification the rollers 4 may be equipped with ball hearings or roller bearings for easier movability, also the flanges of the rollers may be modified to accommodate rails of different cross sections.

It is fundamental in my invention that all the hangers 7 employed in a device must be so dimensioned that the distance fiom the upper end of the hanger to the rail is exactly the same. This feature of my device is of great importance because it enables the operator to set up and position the rails horizontally quickly, conveniently and without the time consuming leveling work necessary in the prior art.

Myinvention utilizes the fact that, the finishing of the concrete floors being one of the last operations in the building, the overhead beams or joists and the flooring resting on the beams or joists are already installed when the concrete floor below is to be poured and finished, and, as these beams, joists and wooden flooring are always in perfect level, whenever the tops of the hangers 7 touch the overhead flooring 11 (see Fig. 2) the rail 6 supported by these hangers is automatically. in a horizontal position.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

In the installation of my device the first step is to establish the two parallel lines corresponding to thedesired location of the two rails. Then, following these lines, the hangers 7 are nailed to the joists 10 (see Figs. 1 and 2), with the tops of the bangers touching the flooring 11. After this, the two rails 6 are inserted into the hook-shaped ends 8 of the hangers 7, as shown in Figs. 3' and 4. Finally, the two rollers 4, carrying the straight edge 1, are deposited on the respective rails and the connection between the strap 2 and bracket 3 is adjusted to give the desired distance from the 6 to the straight edge 1, thereby making my device ready for operation.

After the completion of the finishing of the concrete floor my device can be readily removed and transported to a new location without disturbing in any manner the finished concrete floor.

The operation of my invention herein described shows two important advantages over the prior art: The elimination of the leveling work in the positioning of the rails, and the avoidance of the breaking up of the concrete floor surface when the rails, guiding the straight edge, are reherein desje ibed'andillustrated 'isfto b th s 'inoned. '-Ifhese,important ;advantages are the result of two novel concepts underlying iny invention: The placing ofthe rails ahove the surface of the'ooneerfe'te'floor and by the utilization of the horizontal position of the wr sas w ti g 592 9??? tee-t e mitesns Qfi :I s to, he understood that th f newsman: t ti heI1 fi 1cM rafi e hP r i P r erred to without departingflrom the spirit ofl ny i n ehtion'or the scope of thejsubjoinedlclainif gifl concrete floor finisher {or finishing,'. withoutleyeling operation, the horizontal concretejfioo'r on rbomjiay a h iasm alw ems d 9 0 11586 cated above the concrete to be finished, each rail serving as a track ctor one of the said rollers and carrying said straight edge and the connected parts; a multiplicity of hangers, each having a hook-shaped lower end engaging and holding one of said'rails, and an upper 'portion with holes, said hangers being secured to said beams by nails passing through. said holes so that the upper ends of said hangers touch saidoyerhead flooring and thereby are positioned withouta leveling operation, and said hangers being'so dinien's'ioned that" each-hanger has the same distance from its upper .end to the rail held by the hanger inerder'te obtain" a horizontal positioning of the rail.

References (iited in the file of' this patent UNIT-ED STATES PATENTS 1,245,632 Straub Nov. 6, 1917 1,545,888 Evans July 14, 1925 1,768,547 Englund July 1,1930 08;4 6 "Cfifiqr I Ar 2' 6 FOREIGN PATENTS V 62,058 Netherlands Nov. 15, 1948 305,977 Switzerland June 1,1955 1,129,377 France 'Sept. 3, 1956 

